CONVERTING TO PROPANE

[joeboch348]

anyone hear of converting to propane or natural gas?

[avonside]

I converted our 2005 3.0 to dual fuel, petrol/lpg gas 2 years ago, I have had a few reliability issues with the conversion,but has not damped my reason for doing it and even when the system defaults to petrol so its not a problem really.The MASSIVE benefit here in rip-off england is the cost of the LPG gas it is just over half the cost of regular unleaded.. so it is a big saving and there is no loss in performance and useability...

[Weasel]

BMW actually had a small fleet of either propane, hydrogen or natural gas burning E38 7 series years back. (don't remember which it was) Maybe search that up to see if there is any info/specs on how BMWs ran with it when it was set up properly by BMW themselves. The E38 740 had the same basic engine as the 4.4i so all the same should apply. Come to think of it they even had a hydrogen 7 with the E65/E66 7 series.

[joeboch348]

id love to convert my 4.4 over. save some fuel costs

[motordavid]

Originally Posted by joeboch348

id love to convert my 4.4 over. save some fuel costs

I haven't done the arith, propane vs gasoline, with the corresponding 'mileage', etc., but it isn't 'handy', even where I live in western NC and half the population heats water and/or house on propane. Add in the wide price swings, (propane in bulk delivery to my house at 700 gals a load, in summer, is much cheaper than a 5 gal fill up at the hardware, or a bulk load in autumn/winter), and I don't see it being a friendly fuel for cars in the US.

Not suggesting it can't be done, and I've ridden in a lot of taxis around the world that smell like they run on propane or LNG, but for general commuting/driving/trips, I would think propane would be a logistics exercise.
GL, mD

[diyanich]

Originally Posted by motordavid

I haven't done the arith, propane vs gasoline, with the corresponding 'mileage', etc., but it isn't 'handy', even where I live in western NC and half the population heats water and/or house on propane. Add in the wide price swings, (propane in bulk delivery to my house at 700 gals a load, in summer, is much cheaper than a 5 gal fill up at the hardware, or a bulk load in autumn/winter), and I don't see it being a friendly fuel for cars in the US.

Not suggesting it can't be done, and I've ridden in a lot of taxis around the world that smell like they run on propane or LNG, but for general commuting/driving/trips, I would think propane would be a logistics exercise.
GL, mD

Also LNG reduces the engines life.
And it's true,it stinks while you are in the car,I don't know if BMW would(I assume it would).I used to live in Argentina and there if car is not a diesel it's running LNG (Gas Natural Comprimido),and you can feel the stink.
I also saw some cabs in Vancouver that were running on LNG.
It's not common for the Atlantic coast at all,since natural gas isn't popular even in households.
If you have a good infrastructure for refilling in your area..you would definitely save money on fuel .

[JCL]

My experience is that natural gas extends engine life, as it burns much more cleanly.

Lots of vehicles here in Vancouver running on compressed natural gas (CNG, not LNG). That includes taxis, fleets, transit buses, and private vehicles. In Greater Vancouver, we can refuel at several Chevron, Esso, PetroCan, Mohawk, and Huskey stations. I don't drive enough to make it pay, myself, and I would be more prepared to convert a lower-tech domestic vehicle than a new BMW.

[diyanich]

Originally Posted by JCL

My experience is that natural gas extends engine life, as it burns much more cleanly.

A different opinion from a very respectful source.
I never owned LNG vehicle and definitely wouldn't convert my X,but if there's no risk for the engine and some savings,so people doing some decent mileage would be right in considering such a conversion.

[joeboch348]

we have a couple crown vic's in our fleet that run on both lng and gasoline. no difference in performance and they have a ton of miles on em. getting the lng wouldnt be a problem here.